Sunday, 11 October 2015

Review of NOT ENOUGH by Mia Hoddell

Neve Colvin isn’t good enough. As an introvert, her life is a never-ending list of labels and criticism. Pressures to change come from everyone—including the one person she thought would love her unconditionally … her mother. All Neve wants is acceptance, but surrounded by extroverts it’s a wish that’s nearly impossible to fulfil.

For Neve there’s only one solution: anyone disapproving must go. Even if it means only one person will remain.

That person is her lifelong friend Blake Reynolds. He’s seen the fights with her mum, the breakdowns caused by attacks on her personality, and the battles for acceptance. Each time she is left shattered and questioning who she is, he’s the one to collect the pieces of her broken heart. Shielding her from the cruelty is his only concern. But how can he protect her when Neve is concealing a secret so dark?

Blake thinks he knows everything about her, and with their relationship developing, he assumes Neve trusts him fully. However, there is one memory Neve is too ashamed of to share. Revealing it will test Blake’s loyalty beyond what she could ever ask, and Blake is the only friend she can’t afford to lose. He’s the one person capable of dragging her from the darkness plaguing her, but with pressures to conform increasing, even Blake may not be enough to pull her back this time.

*I Hereby Award This Book 5 Wings!*

I was asked to review this book by the author, Mia Hoddell and I couldn't refuse. It sounded like just my kind of story. I love getting swept into other people's worlds and I won't lie, I was totally consumed by Neve and Blake's story.

As a girl who has always felt she isn't good enough, doesn't fit in anywhere and is fed up of being called 'quiet' and 'introverted', as though those labels make someone a bad person or someone people don't want to befriend, I can totally see where Neve is coming from. I grew up not fitting in with my family. I had several groups of friends as I felt I didn't really fit in with any one clique at school. I was quiet, shy, introverted. I didn't act like most of my friends. Whilst they were out doing whatever it is young girls do, I was behind closed doors in my bedroom with a book in hand. I was far happier in my own company than in large crowds of people. Why? I really don't know. I'm still the same as a 32 year old woman. I have a small, close group of friends - in time, you come to realise that you can count your true friends on one hand, at least in my case.

So I know how it feels to be branded the 'freak' because I wasn't into make-up, shopping, boys... all the 'normal' things that girls my age were into. But what is normal? Who decides what's normal and what isn't? Some people are extroverted and surround themselves with like-minded people. Some are introverted and keep more to themselves. If you can find the right balance in your friends, they help you see that being introverted isn't abnormal, it isn't wrong, it's just who and what you are. That's what I have now. I have people who accept me as I am and as for the rest, I cut them dead a long time ago because they couldn't let me be me. There was always something wrong with me, in their minds. But I'm just me. Take me or leave me. I am what I am, and I don't need to keep making excuses for my behaviour just because I'm different.

Neve Colvin is a hell of a lot like me. It's almost as though Mia Hoddell stood in my shoes and wrote about my life. So many things in this story paralleled real-life. Neve is a character that I easily formed a connection with. Seeing her character traits reflect my own was something that tugged at my emotions and drew me right in with her.

Neve grew up with an extroverted mother, a larger than life family, people who were the exact opposite of her. And because she was 'different' they always told her that there was something wrong with her. She grew up believing she was never good enough. Why couldn't her family and friends accept who for who she was? A clash of personalities, her mother always looked down her nose at Neve and belittled her very existence because she was quiet, shy, preferred the company of her best friend Blake to anyone else. Why was that? Because Blake accepted her for who she was. He never made her feel like she wasn't good enough to be friends with. Quite the opposite, Blake always encouraged Neve to just be Neve.

Moving out of home was one of the best things she decided to do. Although her mother could still make her feel like dirt, it was from a distance. Change was in the air for Neve, it was just a question of when. How would her life play out if she got from under the influence of her mother? That's something you'll have to find out by picking up a copy of Not Enough for yourself.

This story tugged at my heartstrings, played on my every emotion. It was a beautifully written story of how an introverted young girl blossoms into a beautiful young woman. It's almost a 'coming of age' story, where she discovers what real-life is like once you start to make your own decisions.

As I read, I had a song playing on loop in my head. I find it very fitting as it's a song I can connect with myself and I can connect Neve with it too.

Thank you Mia for allowing me to read an early copy of Not Enough. I am humbled that you should want to hear my thoughts on your story. Here is a teaser I made shortly after finishing the book...

Thank you for coming to read my review. I hope it will encourage you to take a chance on this story yourself.

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About Me

My name is Keren. I am a 30 year old mom of 1. His name is Calum and he is 6.
Reading is pretty much in my blood and I have been reading since I knew what the written word was. I used to be the biggest Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan but have now broadened my horizons and my tastes encompass a lot of things. I have very eclectic taste in life in general. From the Gothic, to the more girly.
I am a big lover of Indie Authors such as Nancy Straight, Rachael Wade, Selene Chardou, Kate Laurens, Jo A Cattell and far too many others to name.
I have just signed a publishing contract with Limitless Publishing for a YA Paranormal Romance I have just finished writing called Stolen.